The Peoples of Rumania

The Jews live mainly in the towns and have until quite recently been so restricted in their civil and legal rights that they can hardly be said to have held the status of citizens. Nevertheless they are, as always, of the greatest financial value to the country and have much of the business in their hands. Their position, if not yet quite free, is still better than it was before the war. In origin the majority are Polish and Galician, though there are some few Spanish Jews of the same kind as those at Salonika.

The Turks are the survivors from the days of Turkish domina tion, settled mainly in the sixteenth century. They live in the remoter districts along the Danube, particularly on the Dobruja coast and near Silistria. They are old-fashioned and recall the Turkey of a century ago; they bear little resemblance to their brethren of the new Turkish Republic. The gypsies and Bulgars are the least satisfactory element in the country. The former contribute the attractive music of the traditional Tsigane and are at least picturesque, but the latter are a difficult element. Both are found mainly in the Moldavian and Dobruja provinces. Bulgar villages are common throughout the Dobruja, inter mingled with Tatar settlements and Rumanian hamlets. But the Bulgars here are of a savage type, perhaps descendants from the original Cumans (q.v.), of the Middle Ages, and they are neither so clean nor so industrious as the Rumanian peasants.

The Russians in Bessarabia naturally form a difficult element hut they do not number much more than a quarter of the total population of the district. Nevertheless they form an important minority, situated as they are on the borders of a powerful state. They are, however, industrious and quiet and have not given rise to so many difficulties as the Hungarians.

Religion.

The State Church of Rumania, which is governed by a Holy Synod, professes the Orthodox Oriental creed. Its inde pendence was formally recognized by the oecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, in 1885. The Rumanian Church had claimed its independence from very ancient times, but under the Turkish suzerainty and Phanariote hospodars Greeks were generally elected as bishops, and the influence of the Greek patriarch at Constantinople came to be more and more felt. In 1864 it de clared itself independent of all foreign prelates In 1872 a law was passed by which the bishops were elected by the senate, the chamber of deputies, and the synod sitting as an assembly (the only other occasion on which provision is made for such an assembly is in the event of the throne becoming vacant without any apparent heir). It was subsequently decided to consecrate the holy oil in Rumania instead of procuring it from Russia or Constantinople; but the Greek patriarch protested. Secret

negotiations were entered into which came to a successful issue. The patriarch feared on the one hand that the growing influence of the Russian Church would give a colour of Slavism to the whole church, and that a Russian might eventually be appointed oecumenical patriarch at Constantinople, while the Rumanians hoped by means of the independence of their church to deprive the Russians of all excuse for interfering in their internal affairs under the pretext of religion. The Rumanians, although obtain ing complete independence, agreed to recognize the patriarch at Constantinople as the chief dignitary of the Orthodox Church. The metropolitan archbishop of Bucharest, officially styled metropolitan primate of Rumania, presides over the Holy Synod; the other members being the metropolitan of Jassy (primate of Moldavia), the six bishops of Ramnicu Valcea, Roman, Hushi, Buzeu, Curtea de Arges and the lower Danube (Galatz) ; to gether with eight bishops in partibus, their coadjutors. Metro politans and bishops are elected by the senate and deputies, sitting together. In Hungary there are a uniate metropolitan and three bishops belonging to the Rumanian church. The secular clergy marry before ordination; and only regular clergy (kalugari) are eligible for high preferment. Many convents have been closed and utilized for secular purposes. The older convents are usually built in places difficult of access and are strongly fortified; for in troublous times they served as refuges for the peasants or rallying places 'for demoralized troops. The sequestration of the monastic estates, which in 1864 covered nearly one-third of Rumania, was due to flagrant abuses. Many estates were held by alien founda tions, such as the convents of Mount Athos and Jerusalem ; while the revenues of many more were spent abroad by the patriarch of Constantinople. Religious liberty is accorded to all churches, Jews, Muslims, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Armenians and Lipovans having their own places of worship. The addition of the new provinces has added mainly to the number of the Roman Catholics, who were few in number in old Rumania. Nearly 300,00o come from Transylvania and the Banat alone. But the Orthodox and Uniate churches control 29.6% of the inhabitants of Transylvania, according to a religious census of 191o. Bes sarabia has but added to the numbers of the Orthodox Church. The Saxons of the Banat and of Transylvania are mainly Luther ans of the Augsburg Confession, but some are Roman Catholics. The Magyars are almost wholly Roman Catholics.